origins of despair
by forsaken angel- duke
Summary: in the land of Merlunai, there lays forbidden tales and amazing events, the life of a special girl crystal is changed when she learns of her great power and gains trusted allies, what will happen in this heart filled adventure?
1. origins of despair Chapter 1

Origins of despair, chapter 1: prologue and a new hope

1542, Nehia era. the forgotten land of Merlunai which is surrounded, there are considered forbidden ways of the world, some humans were able to use abilities like no other blessed upon them by the gods, and then there are some who have taken the powers of the beast, and finally there are those who must feed on others to survive, these three, the blessed humans, those who inherited the beast, and finally, those with the lust for blood. These three beings are classed as the highest of power and were eliminated from the world, or were thought to be, in the Kusakai house, the vampires have taken up residence, and have forcedly become the rulers of the land, those without powers suffer and try to live as best they can, but loose loved ones to the vampires who take them for sustenance and to prosper themselves, the werewolves themselves have taken up lands in the forest and have set themselves apart from the vampires and the humans. In the Kusakai house, the king sits

"My lord, we have the blessed, what would you have us do?" a young vampire soldier said to him, kneeling as for dear life

"Bring him forward" the lord said, swirling a glass of red liquid in his hand

"Of course, bring him forward!" the vampire called, as the doors behind him shot open as if on command, and two more soldiers walked in, dragging on more on his knees, they threw him down in front of their lord, he stood up, spitting blood on the floor

"there, your reward for bringing me in" the blessed said with a smile, looking back at them as they hissed and gave him death stares, they walked off with an agitation , he then turned and had a shiver run up his spine

"blessed, what is your name?" the lord said, setting his cup down and crossing one leg over the other, he was wearing a long black trench coat, with rupees attached evenly on each side, he had dark blue eyes and long straight hair, he was fairly tanned, the blessed thought, for a vampire.

"my name is Illiad, lord melliore" Illiad said with a slight bow as to insult him, he stood straight "what would you like with me?" lord Melliore looked at him, and smiled slightly, showing his fangs, looking at Illiad he saw he had crimson eyes, he was wearing torn black jeans and a blood splattered jacket,, he wore a black hat with flames and had blood red hair. To others he would be intimidating, but the lord simply smiled

"You know the laws of our land Illiad, the vampires hold dominion over what happens here and there, we do not allow people out during the day on most occasions, but you, you simply broke into my home, where I keep order, and began killing us off mercilessly, yet you have no weapons, and no one saw anything that can be identified from the bodies, tell me Illiad, what did you do to my people?" he said standing behind him, Illiad turned his head slightly and looked at him, as his eyes flamed red

"I came here to make a point, that we blessed are just as strong and in turn I got to speak to the one in charge of it all, lord Melliore, the strongest of the vampires, now I think I may finish it right here and now…" Illiad began, and flicked his finger, which had a spark, the lord tilted his head slightly, as the spark touched the ground, flames burst out around them, encircling them both and spiraling into the roof, bursting outward through and beyond, going upward into the sky, everything inside the room was scorched nearly instantly, the furniture turned to ash, the fire began to subside, and all that was left was flames barely touching the roof, Illiad began to walk towards the door which barely stood, but stopped suddenly as a hand touched his shoulder, all he felt was pain, he looked at it slowly as his arm was being indented as if a box cardboard, he winced and tried to get away, but was gripped harder and thrown into the wall, hitting it he felt his back crack just as easily, he fell to the ground coughing he looked up hastily to see Lord Melliore standing there, his clothes only slightly scorched if anything, his body itself seemed to be perfectly fine as if he were just waking up

"You are quite strong, I see that you have obtained the fire god's blessing, a rare one to obtain indeed and certainly not permitted, fire is light in its own way, and you see we do not allow light on our island." He said firmly, Illiad began to get up but the Lord moved as if a blur, kicking Illiad in the side he flew into the wall, cracking it nearly onto the other side "I don't believe I will kill you Illiad, you had the nerve to approach and attack me without hesitation, which on other circumstances I would have found amusing, but you are blessed by the fire god, and I will make you suffer for choosing such a path, Guards!" Lord Melliore called, whipping his clothing, he jumped out onto the ceiling where the whole came from, he smiled, and looking up instead of sunlight there was only darkness "bring him up here"

"of course" said one of the guards, who appeared before Illiad as if from nothingness , there were five in total, a large amount for only one blessed Illiad thought, but was picked up and brought to the lord on the roof, thrown down he coughed

"Look, you say you're kind are stronger than ours, but in my mind I hope this will show you that idea was dead from the start" Illiad looked up slowly, and his eyes widened, as he looked he saw that thousands of vampires were descending on fields, as he began to hear screams and calls of names "you were smart not coming alone, bringing a army of your own to confront me after eliminating guards yourself, but this will show you, not to believe what you think in comparison to us, the beasts have abandoned mankind, blessed were the only ones thought to be able to win, think again"

"Damn you…" Illiad said hitting his hand off the ground, which shot pain up his arm , he was grabbed once again and dragged down into the hole

"You are finished now blessed, because of you, we shall eliminate your kind from our island, make an example of you personally." As the lord said that, he smiled looking down at him, as he went through the door

It has been 100 years since that event, the vampires made their point, purging the island of blessed everywhere, bringing Illiad out and torturing him to show that they were not to be trifled with again, but stopped once they showed there point and through him in their dungeons.

in a village, there is a teenage girl, about 17, she had long black hair and ocean blue eyes, she wore a leather jacket and jeans, she had pitch black gloves and was decently tall for her age

"Mother, where are you?"

"I'm in here Crystal!" Crystal's mother called from inside a house, Crystal ran inside to see her mother with a friend of the family, and Crystal had a small heritage of those who were called blessed, she asked her mother about them many times but was not told anything except not to bring the subject up again, Crystal smiled, looking at them, she saw their friend in the corner, with a blanket over a person, a boy, who looked about 18, he was only wearing torn jeans and had silver spiked hair that looked like he was in a fight only a moment before coming inside

"Mother, who is that?" she asked, leaning against her mother and looking curiously, she could not see his eyes, but felt cold looking at him

"This is Duke, that is what he said his name was and that is all he said and hasn't spoken since"

"Duke…" Crystal said looking at him, she tilted her head and got startled as he looked up at her, he had silver eyes, they looked cold, like there wasn't much there to begin with, he moved the blanket off of him, revealing scars and other injuries, but he was in good condition and was muscular to a great extent, but as suddenly as he took it off he was in front of her, and shot his hand towards her stomach in a punch, they screams and held her hands down, she felt a pulse in her body, not pain, but like energy was moving, she looked down, as her hands were flashing with a bright light, she saw a glimpse of steel through it and saw Dukes hand, but no blade, as his arm was covered in a steel coating, but was being repelled by the light being given off, he stepped back, looking at her mother

"You blessed your child with the god of the sun" he said, looking at Crystal afterwards "I am Duke, I was blessed by the god who constructed weapons, the forge god"

"i….i don't understand" Crystal said, flailing her hands quickly from the light they went back to normal " what are you talking about?" she asked hastily looking at her mother and him many times

"Crystal…you are a blessed" she said finally, grabbing her daughter, bringing her near "Duke, what do you want? Why did you come here?"

"I had felt the power of the sun for many months and it brought me here, to this girl, you see, we are both blessed, a power supposed to be forgotten a century ago, the ones who stood against the dominion of vampires, we are those same beings, and she is going to help me restore us to our great stature"

"oh my god…" Crystal said, holding her hand out "go away!" she yelled, as energy exploded from her hand, hitting Duke through the back wall where no one could see

"Crystal!" her mother began, and sighed "please, you should listen to him maybe…our grandfather was a blessed, and had fought in the same story he has told"

"…mom things arnt going to be fun are they?" Crystal said sitting down

"no dear…im sorry they arnt"


	2. origins of despair chapter 2

Origins of despair chapter 2: a rough start

**Crystal's home**

"That hurt you know" Duke said laying in Crystal's bed, rubbing a bandage on his arm, Crystal sat at a chair beside him

"I'm sorry…I didn't realize that would happen when I got mad…" she said lowering her head, she was flicking her fingers now, as sparks of light shot out in little bursts each time "this thing, power, I have, you said it was a blessing, what did you mean by that?"

"we are blessed, our families when born are brought to priests…hidden priests, that still worship the gods, I was blessed by the god of steel, and I can form steel, iron, and in rare occasions when needed diamond on my body, and you were blessed by the god of the sun, I know, I watched you get blessed, I was the priests son. He was caught though, and killed, because vampires completely band the sun gods worship, its power was there ultimate weakness, now you are our chance to win"

"You can't be serious…" Crystal said looking at him with her head tilted "you can't believe I would go against the vampire's rain…the lord"

"Crystal, weather you enjoy the thought or not, your our only hope, have you ever wondered where your father had gone?"

Crystal gasped "my father…he left with the vampires years ago, they said they were going to bring him into their order…"

"Your father was a blessed to, your mother said your grandfather was one, im sure he blessed your father just as we were, but vampires don't bother with blessed unless it is breaking them and killing them"

"But…" Crystal stared then looked down at her hands "he can't be dead…", Duke stood up and walked past her, putting his hand on her shoulder

"You want to find out, come with me, I have a path that will take us to their headquarters, I need to go there, I already have allies, the beast blood"

"The beasts…you mean you know werewolves?" Crystal said standing up, as his hand fell gently beside himself again, she kept her head lowered "I can find my father…?"

"yes." Crystal turned to him quickly, her eyes dead set but shaky

"Then alright, I'm going" she said, and Duke smiled slightly

"There we are" he said, as he went to the door, and grabbed a bag he placed some things from the room inside it, he pulled out a sheet, he unfolded it and revealed a map, it leg through a long path, to Crystals surprise it showed they were on the complete opposite side of the island then their destination, it showed forests and a few large cities, but then, in some parts there were red circles, and little routes around them

"Duke, why are those there?" she asked, pointing to one, but he quickly pulled them away "those are demonic lands, ive been finding them for over a year so we did not have to face them…Lilith's children"

"Wait a sec, arnt those just myths?" Crystal asked confused but with a slight sign of sarcasm, but Duke looked at her with a serious expression

"Some things are more real than you think, just like the Zodiacs, the leaders of the werewolves and other beasts in the wild, were going to avoid them best we can also"

"You're insane"

"insane or not you've agreed to joining me in search of your father, so lets begin" he said putting the map in his bag, they went down the stairs, Crystal's mother sat at the table reading a book, she looked up and sighed

"So, sweet heart, you've made your decision, your going?" she said putting the book down and standing up, she smiled, but there was great tension in the air, as if she was happy by had the great urge to run away, run away from what was about to happen, and lay in her room with her mom and wonder what to do

"yea…im going with Duke to find dad…"

"your father?..." she looked at Duke " you know where Munakai, my husband is?" she asked sounding baffled and breathless

"I believe I do, he should be at the vampires dominion, where the lord holds rule over the land, from rumors ive heard he keeps blessed in his castle as trophies"

"trophies….tell me Duke, why do you want to go fight the vampires and that you would go so far as to get my daughter?" she said walking over to Crystal, putting her arms around her as a mother would, but she only had a sign of curiousness on her face, nothing else

"Illiad."

"Who is…"

"Illiad is the one who fought the vampires 100 years ago, the one who fought for our rights and freedoms and blessed, they locked him away in prison, but I don't believe he died, I believe he is being used as a trophy, possibly like your husband" Duke said as he began to walk out the door, he then turned his head slightly to show his eyes " il find Illiad, and il find your husband, il fix everything…" he said silently, and walked out of the house, obviously expecting Crystal to follow, Crystal looked at her mother with a smile

"I guess its time for me to go…mother, do you want to come with us? You could help us search for father.."

"I'm sorry dear, I'm an old girl, I don't think il be able to do much for you, il be here though, waiting for you and Munakai, don't you worry" she said, hugging her daughter, she gave her a kiss on the forehead, Crystal smiled, hugging her mother back, she turned and ran out the door, her mother followed to the door and watched as the two of them continued to leave the town, she felt a tear go down her face, she wiped it off and looked into the sky, she realized this before and knew what would happen, her daughter kept the light in there town shining with light, and when she left their light would go out and the vampires would finally descend upon them.

**The next night**

"Can we stop yet?"

"not quite yet, do not be hasty my allies are in the next town over" Duke said, they were on a dirt road, which Crystal assumed was the easiest way to travel seeing as Duke did not allow them to stop until they were at his set destination

"but its getting dark outside, I know you say im blessed by the god of the sun and whatever but I don't even know how to use it to make a light when I need it" she said as she was about to continue whining but hit Duke's back as he stopped dead "hey, what are you…" she began but saw he was looking around quickly

"your right, were setting up camp over there for the night" he said pointing at a breach in the side of the mountain, Crystal looked at felt like slapping him, looking it was a good 40 feet above them into the mountainside

"Idiot were way down here, how to you propose we get up there?" she said walking towards it and touching the mountain side, but felt a rush of air as Duke was suddenly beside her

"we're going to climb" he said, as he pulled his hand back, tightening his hand into a fist it burst out with metal shards, and they formed over his hand, he then hit his other hand with it and it formed over that hand too, he hit the mountain then, and his hand went through it, creating a hole, and continued to do so, climbing upward, he got to the ledge and climbed into the cave "come on, use the holes I made to get in here"

"Your insane" she said moving back slightly

"Come on, it's safe, I'm going to get a fire going" Duke said, jumping out of the cave, he landed on a tree elegantly, punching it he shattered the center, sending the tree falling onto the ground, splitting into smaller pieces of wood, Duke began to collect it as Crystal looked at the path up

"alright, so im insane"

**Later that night**

"it was fine"

"I almost died."

"I caught you"

"you're the reason I almost died" Crystal said sitting in the cave, she had her arms crossed over her chest, and was sitting in front of a roaring fire, Crystal had fallen from half way up the mountain path, Duke had caught her, but with nearly no time left to spare until she would hit the ground

"well, I'm sorry, I thought the path was good enough for others" Duke exclaimed, he was holding a stalagmite he found deeper into the cave, his arm was covered in iron itself, he was breaking pieces off clearly and smoothly, Crystal had to admit, he really was blessed by the iron god, she looked to her side, and saw there were arrows with rock arrowheads and wood pieces formed into staffs, now he was creating swords and daggers, she thought he would have plenty with his allies, where ever they may be in the town

"its fine, I'm alright so I don't mind" Crystal said looking outside, the fire Duke started was directly at the entrance, Crystal didn't think she could get around it without getting one or two burns "Duke, how far are we from your allies?"

"about a day and a half walk north from here, were going to rest here tonight and get going early as we can" Duke said, driving the blade into the ground finally complete, Crystal looked at it in amazement, even though it was made of a stalagmite it tore through the ground like it was nothing

"Duke, what do you think is down there?" Crystal asked pointing to the back of the cave, Duke simply sighed to the question

"it's nothing, il check it out soon enough, try to rest" Duke said, standing up, he grabbed a piece of wood that was hanging out of the fire, and used it as a makeshift torch, Crystal laid down on the smooth rock with her blanket and pillow Duke grabbed from her house, she watched as he walked into the darkness of the cave, all she felt was loneliness, but she felt safe, out in the wilderness she closed her eyes, for a moment she thought she heard a distant scream, but put the thought away, and drifted into sleep.


	3. origins of despair Chapter 3

Origins of Despair chapter 3

**On the other side of the island, in the dominion kingdom of the vampires, lord melliore sits in meeting**

"my lord, we have brought word of a mysterious phenomenon in the southern side of the island, where we could not reach for 15 years for there was light" an advisor said looking through papers sitting at a large table, there were 4 vampires in total, and a hooded being.

"I see, so what has happened to this place Hitake?" Melliore said, folding his hands at his chin to lean it on them, he looked over at the hooded creature "and what of you, what do you have to report?"

Hitake was the first to reply " the light over it has disappeared, leaving it vulnerable to retaking, I propose we take this opportunity while it is still in full power, I can have enough soldiers ready to raid it within an hour" he said leaning back with a slight curiosity on his face

"the zodiacs know nothing, they are hidden in a cloud of despair over their land as I have ripped apart this year's harvest, they are busy rebuilding it, I have the chance to act now" the hooded creature said moving slightly, showing a piece of a scorpion tail "I am converting more of them as we speak"

"Excellent, you shall take a dozen of my vampires with you right away, take that part fo the land back by any means"

"Of course lord melliore" the creature said standing up and walking for the door swiftly and avoiding everything in front of him with ease, he made it to the door and saw another being standing in the door

"Scorpio, are you really going to continue with your plan?" it said and turned to let him pass as he turned to look at him, he had horns that were very sharp at the top, he had a slight representation of hooves as shoes

"Capricorn, are you not with me? We are going to see my plan through to the end, you know this"

"I suppose I do…good luck on your mission"

"don't worry, there won't be a single survivor" on that note Scorpio walked away, his cloak moved slightly revealing a massive and jagged, he swung it slightly as it scrapped and made a horrid noise on the wall, as it left a line of green poising on it, as it melted away quickly revealing the next room within seconds

"il kill them all"


	4. origins of despair Chapter 4

Origins of despair chapter 4: A clash of power

"Crystal! Wake up!" Dukes called out running from inside the cave, Crystal jumped up from her sleep nearly instantly hearing his voice and toppled over from moving to quick, she looked at Duke who was nearly at her, her vision was fuzzy just waking up but could just make out Duke waving frantically, she was about to ask what it was when she saw a fire ball shoot out from behind Duke, hitting a stalagmite it scattered and scorched the ground near it, shattering the stalagmite and making Duke stagger, but he regained his moment rather quickly and met with her nearly tackling her out of the cave

"Duke, what's going on?" Crystal asked hastily, her vision cleared and she steadied herself , now that she could clearly see Duke, she noticed there were burns all along his arm, and his shirt was torn, showing his well-muscled chest with a long line of blood running down it "your hurt"

"I'm fine, we need to get out of here right now, I'm afraid we have over-stayed our welcome in this cave" Duke said pulling at her shirt trying to get her to follow him, but she pulled away and stood still, Duke looked back at her with a sign of shock and confusion

"I'm not going anywhere yet, tell me what's happening"

"Lilith's child is just around the corner, happy?" Duke said quickly, but was looking past her, Crystal heard a hissing noise behind them, and began to turn, but was pulled hard, she had just enough time to recognize Duke as he propelled her out of the cave with an insane amount of force, Crystal screamed lightly as she went fast out of the cave but was caught by something, looking back at her wrist she saw that there was a Rope tied to it_, could Duke have used the time she wasn't paying attention and put it there?_ She thought, but quickly came back to reality and she hit the side of the mountain with a hard thud, coughing she dangled lightly on the side, looking around warily she managed to look up and gasped as she felt a large amount of heat, she said a massive amount of flames launching out from the cave entrance, overwhelming heat, that shot out and touched the tree closest to them, catching on fire they began to burn, lighting up the ground below, Crystal looked in amazement as small animals fleed from there burning homes, and just as fast, avoided the flaming ball that connected with one, it was being held by another creature, it was a dark purple type colour with bright ruby eyes, it had no mouth an only a long pincer shaped piece instead, it had talons and three fingers on each hard that extended into razor sharp claws, and had a tail that whipped around violently, fire shooting out of it at the ball as it swung back and hit the tail away, Crystal caught another glimpse and her stomach ached, Dukes throat was in the creatures grasped and his body on fire everywhere, Crystal could only imagine the pain he was enduring at that moment, but winced as a small amount of fire from the tail ran over her wrist, she flailed it quickly removing the fire, but was left with a harsh burn beneath, but forgot the pain as the creature hit the mountain side close to her, breaking in and through the structure, just as quick Duke was over her, she felt the rope come loose as he grabbed hold and pulled her away, launching himself off the mountain side they landed near an unharmed tree and he placed her beside it

"Duke…" Crystal began, but felt his fingers over her mouth and went silent

"Don't say a word, your hurt, I need to get you to safety" Duke said, Crystal could hear the panting in his breath, now looking at him she felt relief, there were burns on his body, but his body itself was covered in a large amount of jagged silver armor, she could only see his eyes under the helmet he wore, they were full of worry

"We need to get away…that thing is going to kill us" Crystal said softly, pulling at him "come on, we need to go now"

" I know, and were going to go right now" Duke said, picking Crystal up quickly, she barely realized it right away but Duke was running fast, fireman carrying her away, she could see his foot prints behind them, Dukes steps continuously dug into the ground a fair bit, the armor he wore must have been quite heavy she thought and looked up

"Duke! Its coming!" Crystal called at him, patting his back lightly, he looked back for only a second to see the creature coming on all fours, moving much faster than they were, like a chaeta chasing a rhino, then Crystal heard Duke sigh lightly, he stopped dead in his tracks, as Crystal felt herself carried by the momentum onto the grass in front of them, she hit it hard but barely felt it in the adrenaline occurring, she looked at Duke, who was turned to face the creature

"Heleneir, Demon child of Lilith, born in the fires of hell itself, I thought it resided on the eastern side of the island more, I suppose I was wrong" Duke said, as Heleneir gained more and more momentum it jumped, the trees around it losing their leaves as it passed, it met Duke in a matter of a few seconds, and hit.

"Duke!" Crystal cried out, she felt tears began to form as she covered her eyes, there was so much going on and noises everywhere, now she could only hear the faint sound of fire and an agitated hissing sound, she looked up slowly, and gasped there, in front of her was Duke, standing up straight, his hands gripped Heleneir's claws tight, he was arched forward slightly, he feet digging into the ground, he was pushed back nearly to Crystal, and she saw that Heleneir did indeed have a mouth, the pincer shaped mouthpiece was split in half, and drug deep into Dukes shoulder armor, as blood began to poor from his arm Duke lifted the creature, and it kicked out at his stomach, leaving marks in his armor but Duke did not falter. Crystal heard a cracking noise as Dukes hands crushed the demons claws and it released its grip on him, howling frantically at the assault, and the Duke began to run, releasing its hands, He upper cutted it fast, making it stagger backwards a distance, then he was in front of it again, spinning he roundhouse kicked it in the side of the head, propelling it into a tree, it cried out and jumped at him again, as he met it head on and head butted it

"Duke…be careful" Crystal said lightly, but realized Duke heard it as he turned around, seeing his eyes they were full of confidence

"Don't worry I will be" Duke said, lunging forward he tackled Heleneir, wrapped his arms around its stomach and pulling it close, he chargedhard forward, Heleneir cried out and flailed at him harshly, wrapped itself tail around his shoulder it released an extremely hot liquid that made Duke cry out, but he continued to gain momentum, and reached the mountain once more, he rammed the demon into the side, as the earth around the impact shattered and separated, the mountain side itself cracking inward, as the demon cried out once more, and fell limp, its tail falling from Dukes arm and blood began to run from its mouth, Duke then pulled hard, and felt the movement hit home as it snapped its back, it gagged lightly, and felt from his arms in a burst of flames, as Crystal caught up to Duke, she saw him standing in the pile of flames, he then turned towards her. "Duke…"

"Crystal, go east about one mile, there will be a town, Go quick, and don't look back, theres more here I must take care of, I will regroup with you in two days max, though I hope I will be there earlier, do not worry, you will be safe" Duke said, and without a second glimpse disappearing into the forest, Crystal stood and stared for a second in disbelief, and suddenly heard a cry in the direction he went, not Dukes, but a horrid monstrous sound, and she ran, she ran east with the strength she hard left, she found herself tired after a longer amount of time the she thought she would have, she sat down behind a large tree, and closed her eyes, she was scared, she would not deny it

"Duke…what are we even doing…" she whispered to herself, and laid back trying to relax her muscles, she looked at the burn on her arm and winced as the pain came back in full from it, she gripped it lightly and felt a tear fall beside her face, and jumped back hard, looking up she saw a hand rubbing the tear away

"So you're Crystal then eh? Caused my Duke a bit of trouble" the voice said, it was feminine, even the touch would have been obvious, caring and careful, Crystal looked down and flicked her hand, as light shone from it brightly, she then looked up again to see a girl with bright red hair and a silver dress, she had her eyes closed from the light, but was smiling wide

"you know Duke….? Who are you?" Crystal asked in a whispering tone

"Why Crystal, Duke hasn't told you a thing? Im his sister, Siki"

**Later that night…**

"Thank you…for coming to get me Siki, I would have been lost without your help" Crystal said sitting beside a fire "how'd you know where I was?"

"Silly girl, Duke must have said something, anything along the lines that he has allies?" Siki said, stirring up the fire with a stick, Crystal had a good look at her now, with her emerald green eyes and fine skin tone, she could not have been more then 17, but Crystal could see from how she handled herself that she learned much in such a small amount of time

"Yes, he said he was allied with the beasts, are you?..." Crystal began, but was interrupted by Siki as she laughed

"no I'm not a lycan, im a blessed like you and Duke, there are a few of us, wondering around this forest, I happened to run across you, and they went to search for Duke, we knew he was going to be in this forest since he was late"

"Late?"

"Duke originally planned to meet us last night, but I suppose because of you he decided to stop and wait the night out" Siki's tone was more enthusiastic then Crystal could have thought the situations would allow

"So, how many of you are there exactly? " Crystal asked moving closer to the fire to warm up, her light she had in her hand was gone now, she was somewhat glad by this, she felt like her energy was being drained when she used it, but she couldn't figure out how to use it like she did when she hit Duke

"Well, in the forest, there are about six, including you and Duke"

"There are only four of you here? Your numbers are so small…"

"Large things come in small packages" Siki said with a smile towards Crystal, the smile warmed her inside, she hadn't felt the best since she left and this small amount of kindness and calm made her happy, she looked back and went into a whisper

"Siki, what's that smoke over there? It's not where the fight Duke and Heleneir fought" and with that Crystal regretted it, she looked back at Siki whose eyes were wide open

"Heleneir? You mean the demon child of Lilith Heleneir?" Siki's tone was different, serious

"Yes, we were in a cave along the mountain and it attacked Duke, Duke killed it, and ran off, saying he would be back in two days maximum, why?"

"We need to go, now." Siki said standing up and began to walk back the way they were

"Wait Siki what's wrong?"

"Heleneir is like a Hydra, kill him once, and he comes back doubled, and it continues like that" Siki said as she began to run, Crystal then got up and did the same, trying to keep Siki in sight the entire time, though she lost sight of her once or twice she was proud she could find her when she stopped, she was about to speak again but stopped dead as her eyes widened, in front of them stood Heleneir's, 9 of them, and one, near the mountain side, had Duke by the throat, a long line of blood on his chest, and fire consuming him

"Duke!" Crystal screamed


	5. origins of despair chapter 5

Origins of despair

"Duke! No!" Crystal yelled, and pointed here hand forward, and a beam of light, as it connects with the back of one of the Heleneirs, it flies into the mountain beside the one holding Duke "what the..."  
"now thats how you start! But remember don't kill or cut it in half!" siki waved her hand down and water ran down into a ball in her palm, and it dropped, touching the ground the ground below them shook, and a tidal wave exploded out, Crystal looked at Siki in amazement, and the water flooded down, crashing into the Heleneirs, and taking the one away from Duke, tearing down tree's all around them "Duke! Get your ass up and quit faking!" Siki called out in laughter, Crystal was dumbfounded, and she couldn't think of anything to say, looking at the wave of water settles around her ankles  
"Siki...that was amazing, to release such a massive amount of water..."she took a step, and lost her footing, and was thrown backwards into a tree, looking up dazed, a Helenier, gasping for air, stood with its tail pointed at her, and jabbed forward, but missed by iches, Crystal looked to her right, as the tail stuck into the tree only a few inches from her eye, then looking back at the Heleneir, her eyes widened, she saw its head, encased in water, clawing t it but with no hope, as it dropped going limp  
"Crystal! What do you think you're doing?! Run! " Siki yelled, running to her, but with a smile, she took crystals hand, and they began to run  
"Siki...what about Duke?!"Crystal said, trying to get her footing "what about Duke?!  
"Just shut up and go! He gave me a message, "_go to the port town tokasai" _so that's where were going, after that he disappeared..." Siki said, pulling her hand hard, Crystal looked around, but couldn't find a single Heleneir, or for that matter any other movement, so she kept running in silence.

**in the forest, about two miles from the battlefield  
**

"So, do you think it was a good idea to leave them alone Duke?" Sokai asked Duke in front of a fire  
"we didn't have a choice, if we didn't they might have been attacked by Heleneir, we had to stop them first, so we will head to tokasai in the morning, hopefully things will go smoothly, because we're going to have to get on a boat and set sail to see a demy god.

"Siki...stop walking I'm tired" Crystal complained, going along behind Siki lazily  
"Oh quit whining! Were almost at the port town" Siki said irritably "If Duke didnt ask me to i wouldn't even be doing this id be out with him and Sokai"  
"Sokai? Who is that?" Crystal asked curiously, just as Siki stopped quickly, turning around she glared at Crystal  
"he is just an ally. Leave it at that Crystal" she said, and turned quickly  
"w-wait! I thought we were going to rest..." Crystal said with a sigh, and continued walking

**Several hours later, at the entrance to the port town...**

"were here, now you can quit whining Crystal." Siki said, stretching her arms, Crystal took in a deep breath, and looked around  
"Wow...so this is the boat town of Tokasai, it's so large..." Crystal said, looking at a massive boat in the distance "so that's a boat, wow, its gigantic, can it really float?"

Siki laughed slightly "of course it can, otherwise we wouldn't bother using it" Siki said, walking up to a stand, and purchasing a few bags of apples, tossing one to Crystal she caught it fast "you're hungry, i can tell, did that idiot Duke not feed you at all last night?" Siki asked with a grin

"Uhm...no i guess he really didn't" Crystal said silently, blushing she looked at Siki "w-what is it? Let's go find an inn. I have money we can spend the night waiting for Duke"

"Well, I can certainly admire a free night indoors, especially if it means i can get a good rest before more random stuff happens, because honestly Crystal i think you are cursed"

"I am not cursed! All this began happening as soon as i entered this little gang of yours everything i knew went out the window and somewhere deep down I think you're trying to kill me!"

"Well i wouldn't lie to you Crystal" Siki said with a smile, and directed her to the closest inn, they walked in silence, as Crystal looked at Siki worriedly, as if she was thinking Siki was serious about wanting her dead  
"Alright, were here, let's get a room and some sleep..." Crystal said, walking into the inn, and getting a room, they walked up a large amount of stairs, and entered it, Crystal had to admit, the inside of the inn was actually quite nice, there were silk beddings on three beds, and everything was neat and in a place, there was a fireplace in-between two of the beds made of marble that made her warm when she went into the room "how can they afford this? I didn't even know there were islands from here"

"You'd be surprised Crystal, there are dozens just off the coast, and even some that go through tides are whirlpools to get too, Duke never told me which one we will be going too though, so we'll just have to relax until he gets his lazy ass into tokasai" Siki said with a smile, falling back lazily onto a bed

"Yea, i guess there is so much i haven't seen, and our journey has only just begun...Siki, can i ask you a question?" Crystal asked, but did not hear a response, looking at Siki she sighed, Siki was fast asleep, she looked peaceful, behind the power she held Crystal could have thought she was just an ordinary girl, she sat down on her bed, and thought she would take a nap, but then heard a knock on the door, she got up hesitantly, and went to it, putting her ear against the door "who is there?"She asked suspiciously

"I am a friend of Dukes. He has asked me to bring you to him immediately "

"Duke?...okay" Crystal unlocked the door, looking around the person was not there anymore, all that was left was a note, she picked it up and began to read it

_Meet me in the back ally of this inn, i would come inside personally but im afraid there are some people in this town that would prefer i disappeared  
-Duke_

Crystal slipped the note into her pocket, and went down the stairs as quickly as she could, running out the door and turning in behind the inn, she looked around, wondering where Duke was, she heard a rustling noise in the dark where she could not see, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a movement, and ducked quickly, as something large went just over her head, crashing into the building beside her, she flicked her fingers, and a light appeared in her hand, and her eyes widened as she saw a large tail contracted back behind a hooded man

"That was quite a dodge for someone so vulnerable, ." the hooded figure said with joy, and touched the tip of his tail with his hand, as poison dripped from the end, burning into the ground, leaving a large hole "but, how long will you last?" out of the light came a smile from the hooded man, a chill ran up Crystals spine "because it is fact. The prey can only run for so long from the predator." As he said this, his tail whipped out at her again


End file.
